My Victory over the Nazis

For me, a survivor of the Holocaust, the Siyum HaShas, the celebration of the completion of learning the Talmud, at MetLife Stadium and large venues around the world, is above all a day of great victory, a day of historical triumph. For me, a graduate of the Warsaw Ghetto, Auschwitz, Oranienburg, Sachsenhausen, Ohrdruf, and Buchenwald, it is a day that testifies loudly and clearly that we Jews are an eternal people, indestructible and everlasting.

As the winds of war were gathering over Europe, and Hitler’s propaganda machine was spewing vicious hatred against the Jews, I remember as a child and then a teen how a great deal of space in Nazi newspapers and magazines, like the infamous Der Sturmer, was devoted to raving tirades directed against the “Jewish Talmud.”

Their philosophy declared that the Talmud was the source of evil of the world. One publication wrote that the Talmud was “der blutkval des Veltjudentum [the blood-font of world Jewry],” embodying, in the Nazi view, the diabolical Jewish essence that threatens the world. The horrible caricatures of the ugly, hook-nosed Talmud Juden increased hatred of the Jews a thousand-fold in those terrible years preceding World War II.

One incident remains eternally etched in my memory, and none of the terrible suffering that I underwent later could erase it.

It was November 1939, at the beginning of the war and just after the Nazis had occupied Poland. Two Nazi officers burst into our home to loot it. I was home with my mother at the time and she gave them money, hoping that they would leave and let us be.

As they were about to make their arrogant exit, one of the Nazis noticed my father’s tall bookcase full of seforim, holy Jewish books. His eye fell on the beautifully bound Vilna Shas prominently displayed in our bookcase. Apparently, he had never seen such large volumes, so he asked me what books they were. I innocently replied, “It is the Talmud.”

Both Nazis threw the volumes on the floor and began grinding them with their heavy boots.

I will never forget the Nazi’s reaction. As if a cauldron of boiling water had fallen on his bare skin, he jumped up, his face contorted in rage. “The Talmud!” he bellowed as he bounded over to the bookcase and ripped one of the volumes of that Talmud from the shelf. Then, with a diabolical hatred and brutality that I had never before witnessed, both Nazis threw the volumes on the floor and began grinding them with their heavy boots. Those books, however, were well-bound and not easily destroyed. So they began ripping the pages and trashing the beautiful set, volume by volume, eventually throwing them out of the window of our apartment into the street below.

I recall watching from a corner of the room in horror, as the Nazi beasts behaved as if they had encountered Satan. It took them time but they did not tire, expending enormous energy to destroy my father’s set of Talmud and other holy books.

That pogrom against my father’s holy books remains eternally seared into my mind. It was my first encounter with the inexplicably demonic, rabid hatred of the Nazi beast.

There was, though, indeed a reason for the Nazis’ extreme reaction when they heard the word “Talmud.” An integral component of the anti-Jewish Nazi philosophy was its hatred of the Talmud. In fact, when the Nazis took over Poland, one of the first decrees their chief office of security instituted was that applications for exit visas by Orthodox Jews — Talmud-Lehrers, as they called them — would not be accepted. “The learners and teachers of Talmud have the power to rebuild the Judaism that we seek to destroy,” they said.

They were right, of course, and they also understood that the Talmud embodied all that is holy in this world, including things like humility, service to others and the importance of fighting temptation. Because their world was built on arrogance, self-indulgence, and hedonism, they perceived that as long as the Talmud existed, they would not succeed in mastering the world.

The Nazis also understood that the secret of the eternal survival of the Jewish nation was its attachment to the Talmud, and they thus sought to annihilate Poland’s Jews, who to them symbolized Jews devoted to the Talmud.

I recall celebrating the third Siyum HaShas in November 1946, in the Displaced Persons camp in Feldafing, Germany. We were a tiny group of broken survivors, remnants of a Polish Jewry that had been all but wiped out. At the time, all we had were two volumes of Talmud — symbolic of the pitiful condition of Jewry at the time. At the previous Siyum in Lublin there had been thousands of volumes, and now we were only a few broken Jews with two books.

As we celebrate the 12thSiyum HaShas together with more than 150,000 Jews across North America, and with many tens of thousands more around the world, the feeling that wells up within me is difficult to describe on paper.

Yes, the Nazis indeed understood the secret of Jewish survival. They tried to destroy my father’s holy books, the Talmud that has preserved the Jews throughout the ages. But they failed. For the Jews are an eternal people, and the Talmud is eternal.

From the ashes of the greatest tragedy in modern history, the greatest rejuvenation in modern history has happened before our eyes.

We may be persecuted, demonized, and murdered, but as long as we hold onto our tradition that has been passed from generation to generation, we cannot be extinguished!

Just look at the miraculous rejuvenation of Torah Judaism not even 70 years after the Holocaust. Back then, no one, including ourselves, ever believed that hundreds of thousands would gather together for no other reason than to celebrate the study of Talmud.

Not only is the Talmud still alive, but from those two forlorn volumes of Gemara that remained after the conflagration, from the ashes of the greatest tragedy in modern history, the greatest rejuvenation in modern history has happened before our eyes. The day of the Siyum HaShas is my day of victory, the day of victory for all survivors and the day of victory of every “Talmud Jew.”

Reprinted with permission from Agudath Israel of America. This article appeared in the Hasiyum book distributed at the 12th Siyum HaShas.

The opinions expressed in the comment section are the personal views of the commenters. Comments are moderated, so please keep it civil.

Visitor Comments: 19

(13)
Pascale Raitan,
August 19, 2012 5:13 AM

Thank you

BH
Dear Mr Friedenson,
Thank you. So much for sharing your story and feelings with us.
My nine year old son will, please G start learning Guemara next week as he will enter kita ד, and I think there is no better introduction to learning Talmud than your beautiful and heartfelt article ...
May the Almighty bless you with long life,health, and may your descendence be blessed to follow the path that you have traced for them!
Shavua tov ve chodesh tov!

(12)
Alex London,
August 15, 2012 9:50 PM

After your story, just looking at a bound book of the Talmud will bring tears to my eyes.

As a survivor of the Nazi occupation in Paris France, it will also mix joy with my tears to know that the Talmud and the Jewish people will endure eternally -- no matter what or where. This remains inscribed in my heart.

Jerome Holzman,
August 18, 2012 8:35 PM

Ending WWII in Czechoslovakia

As a Jewish US Army soldier in Czechoslovakia in August 1945,I entered a Synagogue in Strakonice, and was astounded to see the Torah torn into shreds littering the floor! But in September I attended High Holiday services in a darkened synagogue in Pilsen which was jammed with Jewish US Army Soldiers. What a warm feeling.

(11)
Anonymous,
August 14, 2012 4:31 AM

Behold the Guardian of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps...

(10)
Richard Marcus,
August 14, 2012 3:15 AM

The Jews Survive!

Naziism is dead; Hitler committed suicide, and Germany is marked with a stain that will last more than a thousand years. Meanwhile, Israel was created as a result of Germany's war against the Jews. What a strange twist of fate! Tell me that G-d doesn't haven't the last laugh!

Edwin Svigals,
August 14, 2012 3:06 PM

Zionism came before Nazism

Israel is not the result of the Shoah.
Israel was a work-in-progress years before Beast Hitler came upon the scene.
If one wants to point to a single important event it would be Herzl's reaction to the Dreyfus trial.

Nick Bassett,
August 18, 2012 11:18 PM

Surely, even if Israel was a "work in progress", the successful conclusion of that work was not assured. It was Germany's war against the Jews that made the creation so essential. Without the war it may still be a "work in progress".

Gairsh,
August 19, 2012 6:05 AM

Although what you're saying may be correct, the fact is that the world moist probably would not have let israel form as a state n for the holocaust

Anonymous,
August 19, 2012 6:09 AM

Although you may be correct, the fact is that the world most probably would not have allowed Israel to become a state if the holocaust did not happen.

(9)
C.Schiff,
August 13, 2012 7:00 PM

Your Story was very touching for me. I was born during the war and survived with my family in hiding. After the war, you could not find Seforim of any kind. One day, when I was very young, a large package arrived filled with tattered Seforim. I remember my Father of Blessed Memory taking out each Sefer, kissing it with tears in his eyes. Thank you for sharing your story.

(8)
Anonymous,
August 13, 2012 3:00 PM

I was deeply moved by your words

Thank you for sharing your insight and story. Every time any Jewish soul learns a portion of Torah we are testament to Hashem and the eternal brit.

(7)
Sarah,
August 13, 2012 1:44 AM

thank you

Thank you for such a beautifully written victory article.

(6)
Chana Rochel (Sommerstein) Eller,
August 12, 2012 8:52 PM

Mr. Friedenson is a tzaddik.

I worked at the Agudah for Rabbi Nisson Wolpin (editor of the former The Jewish Observer) right next to Mr. Friedenson's office where he serves as editor for the newspaper Dos Yiddishe Vort. Newly religious, I did not understand who Mr. Friendenson was, and is, until I had left the employ of the Agudah. (By the way: working for Rabbi Wolpin at the Agudah was a privilege non pareil. It was as if I was being paid to learn Torah eight hours a day!) In any case, one who has read Mr. Friedenson’s articles or heard him speak, knowa that his reflections and remarks are to be treasured, and that he is a living example of the tenacity, the courage, and the conviction of the Jewish People that keeps us alive and well. And may Mr. Friedenson be healthy and well until 120 years -- for our sake as well as for his.

(5)
Anonymous,
August 12, 2012 8:26 PM

Talmud

Thank you so much for your beautiful story, sad yes, but truly inspiring. I will not forget this.

(4)
Gary Katz,
August 12, 2012 4:27 PM

Nazism still thrives, unfortunately.

Even today, I have encountered anti-Semites on the internet who claim European "Talmud Jews" are false Jews, who make up 90% of all Jews, and who "invaded" Palestine. Ignorance never dies; it merely ebbs and flows.

(3)
Katriel,
August 12, 2012 3:26 PM

Absolutely beautiful piece. He's right when he says it's difficult to express the emotions on paper
Baruch hashem

Great article. What a couragerous Jewish man. There was so much hatres against the Jews! TODAY we are seing simulair things as you just hear the domonic hatres from the president of Iran, Egypt etc... WHY?

MIRIAM,
August 17, 2012 12:47 PM

eisav soneh es yaakov

because there is an idea that is sewn into the fabric of this world- eisav (non-jews) will always hate the Jews. it is inborn in them. while we are in exile, we will always be reminded that we dont belong here, that we have a higher purpose. ken spiro, articles on aish and audio on simpletoremember.com explains it in his history series along with other speakers on that sight.

I've been striving to get more into spirituality. But it seems that every time I make some progress, I find myself slipping right back to where I started. I'm getting discouraged and feel like a failure. Can you help?

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

Spiritual slumps are a natural part of spiritual growth. There is a cycle that people go through when at times they feel closer to God and at times more distant. In the words of the Kabbalists, it is "two steps forward and one step back." So although you feel you are slipping, know that this is a natural process. The main thing is to look at your overall progress (over months or years) and be able to see how far you've come!

This is actually God's ingenious way of motivating us further. The sages compare this to teaching a baby how to walk. When the parent is holding on, the baby shrieks with delight and is under the illusion that he knows how to walk. Yet suddenly, when the parent lets go, the child panics, wobbles and may even fall.

At such times when we feel spiritually "down," that is often because God is letting go, giving us the great gift of independence. In some ways, these are the times when we can actually grow the most. For if we can move ourselves just a little bit forward, we truly acquire a level of sanctity that is ours forever.

Here is a practical tool to help pull you out of the doldrums. The Sefer HaChinuch speaks about a great principle in spiritual growth: "The external awakens the internal." This means that although we may not experience immediate feelings of closeness to God, eventually, by continuing to conduct ourselves in such a manner, this physical behavior will have an impact on our spiritual selves and will help us succeed. (A similar idea is discussed by psychologists who say: "Smile and you will feel happy.")

That is the power of Torah commandments. Even if we may not feel like giving charity or praying at this particular moment, by having a "mitzvah" obligation to do so, we are in a framework to become inspired. At that point we can infuse that act of charity or prayer with all the meaning and lift it can provide. But if we'd wait until being inspired, we might be waiting a very long time.

May the Almighty bless you with the clarity to see your progress, and may you do so with joy.

In 1940, a boatload 1,600 Jewish immigrants fleeing Hitler's ovens was denied entry into the port of Haifa; the British deported them to the island of Mauritius. At the time, the British had acceded to Arab demands and restricted Jewish immigration into Palestine. The urgent plight of European Jewry generated an "illegal" immigration movement, but the British were vigilant in denying entry. Some ships, such as the Struma, sunk and their hundreds of passengers killed.

If you seize too much, you are left with nothing. If you take less, you may retain it (Rosh Hashanah 4b).

Sometimes our appetites are insatiable; more accurately, we act as though they were insatiable. The Midrash states that a person may never be satisfied. "If he has one hundred, he wants two hundred. If he gets two hundred, he wants four hundred" (Koheles Rabbah 1:34). How often have we seen people whose insatiable desire for material wealth resulted in their losing everything, much like the gambler whose constant urge to win results in total loss.

People's bodies are finite, and their actual needs are limited. The endless pursuit for more wealth than they can use is nothing more than an elusive belief that they can live forever (Psalms 49:10).

The one part of us which is indeed infinite is our neshamah (soul), which, being of Divine origin, can crave and achieve infinity and eternity, and such craving is characteristic of spiritual growth.

How strange that we tend to give the body much more than it can possibly handle, and the neshamah so much less than it needs!